If you’ve ever watched a skateboarder roll down the street and then all of a sudden pop into the air on a skateboard, you’re probably wondering the same question a lot of people do: how on earth do they do that? It almost seems magical how they just seem to explode off the ground, and then just kind of float. Skateboarder, meet, the ollie. It’s not in the category of “easy skateboard tricks,” but if you learn how to ollie, you’re well on your way to fame and fortune as a professional skater.

The wheels of a skateboard are usually made of polyurethane, and come in many different sizes and shapes to suit different types of skating. Larger diameters (55–85 mm) roll faster, and move more easily over cracks in pavement and are better for transition skateboarding. Smaller diameters (48–54 mm) keep the board closer to the ground, require less force to accelerate and produce a lower center of gravity which allows for a better response time, but also make for a slower top speed and are better for street skateboarding. Wheels also are available in a variety of hardnesses usually measured on the Shore durometer "A" scale. Again like car tires, wheels range from the very soft (about Shore A 75) to the very hard (about Shore A 101). As the A scale stops at 100, any wheels labeled 101A or higher are harder, but do not use the appropriate durometer scale. Some wheel manufacturers now use the "B" or "D" scales, which have a larger and more accurate range of hardness. Modern street skaters prefer medium-sized wheels (usually 51–54 mm), as small wheels with lighter trucks can make tricks like kickflips and other flip tricks easier by keeping the center of gravity of the skateboard closer to the deck, thus making the deck easier to spin. Street wheels are harder (A 100/A 101). Vertical ramp or "vert" skating requires larger wheels (usually 55–65 mm), as it involves higher speeds. Vert wheels are also usually slightly softer (A 98/ A 99), allowing them to maintain high speed on ramps without sliding. Slalom skating requires even larger wheels (60–75 mm) to sustain the highest speeds possible. They also need to be soft and have better grip to make the tight and frequent turns in slalom racing. Even larger wheels are used in longboarding and downhill skateboarding. Sizes range from 65 mm to 100 mm. These extreme sizes of wheels almost always have cores of hard plastic that can be made thinner and lighter than a solid polyurethane wheel. They are often used by skateboard videographers as well, as the large soft wheels allow for smooth and easy movement over any terrain.
There are other types of ollies that you can do either alongside or combine with the ones listed above, like the tailgrab, indy grab, melon grab, stalefish, tweak, and dolphin nose. All of those skateboard tricks are performed more or less how they sound, but you might want to watch some videos on youtube to see a pro in action (as well as awesome cat videos).
No one had ever seen anything quite like it before, but no one knew just how transformative that moment would become. It wasn’t just that you could simply pop up into the air, it’s that it gave the rider a whole other set of opportunities to do tricks, and you don’t even have to be dependent on a ramp! As time went by, people began to add other skateboard tricks while they were airborne.
The Fakie is almost the same thing as a regular ollie-pop, but instead of going forward, the skater is going backwards when they pop the board up in the air, usually performed when you’re in a switch stance. A switch stance is when your feet are in the opposite stance of how you normally would stand, like when you write with your left hand instead of your right (if you’re right-handed).
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As you jump into the air, your front foot needs to roll slightly inward, and with the outside of your foot, you want to guide the skateboard as it flies into the air. Some people describe this as dragging the side of your front foot up the skateboard – that’s more or less what is happening, but what you are doing is using your shoe and the grip tape on the board to pull the skateboard higher into the air with you, and guiding the skateboard to where you want it.
Any serious skateboarder will tell you that the ollie is the most fundamental skateboard trick. In fact, it's probably the first trick that you'll learn on your skateboard. They’re great for getting over obstacles, moving around on your board, or just looking cool. Know the right way to move your feet on the board and with a little bit of practice, you can learn to pull off the perfect ollie.
Place your back foot on the edge of the tail (this is where you will apply a burst of force to the skateboard) and prepare to exert force through the foot’s ‘big-toe-mound’ area. Place your front foot behind the front bolts. Make sure the weight bearing down on your feet, as well as the weight of your body, is generally centered over the ‘middle line’ of your skateboard.
In 1977, skate parks began cropping up all over the place, including Skateboard USA, where Gelfand began to spend most of his time. His buddy, Scott Goodman, is the one who gave Gelfand the nickname of “Ollie” and dubbed his aerial lipside the “ollie-pop.” Pictures of Gelfand during this time period clearly show him getting airborne and performing the trick associated with his name today.
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Before learning it, do have your riding basics down. Meaning you are very comfortable riding it around and doing kickturns and not be pushing mongo. Best to learn it whilst stationary with your wheels on a crack so that you don't move and slip out so much. I don't recommend doing it on grass or carpet cos when you pop the tail, it's gonna be absorbed by the floor and when you start doing it on pavement, your muscles will memorize a different way of doing it. So nope, no easy way out i guess.
To get higher ollies, I would suggesting resting your back foot on the very end of the tail and the front foot in the middle of the deck to allow for more slide. Popping as hard as you can and catching your board in the groove of the nose with you ankle practically resting in the groove will level the board out in the air. after this initial movement slide you feet back to the bolts on the tail and nose to ensure a clean landing.